Once you are in Focus Mode, Aftertone handles the sequencing for you. You do not need to decide what comes next after each task — the app does that based on your planned tasks and priorities.

Completing a task

When you finish a task, press E to complete a task at the original scheduled time or Cmd+E to cut a task to the current time. The task is marked as done and Aftertone immediately shows you a selection of future tasks that you can select to do next.

Incomplete tasks

If you are not able to work on the current task right now, click Incomplete or press R. Marking a task as Incomplete completes it at the current time and creates a new instance of the task in your Today list, ready to be rescheduled. The new instance shows a half-full icon so you can see at a glance that it is a continuation of work already started, not a fresh task.

How Aftertone picks what is next

After you complete or mark a task as incomplete, Aftertone surfaces tasks from your inbox and Today list and asks if you want to start one. Pick one by pressing 1, 2 or 3 or cycle through other tasks with ← →. Once selected, your next chosen task begins immediately. You can also add a break instead with B or dismiss these suggestions with Escape.

When a task goes overdue

If a task runs past its block, an overdue indicator appears on the Focus Screen. You have three options: Auto-Extend (continues in 15-minute increments automatically), Add Time (set a specific amount manually), or Complete Now (marks done as-is at the current time).

👉 Try it now — The next time you complete a task in Focus Mode, do it with the keyboard only. Press E to complete, then pick the next task without touching the mouse.